The Social Psychology of Disintegrative Shaming in Education

Abstract

Despite considerable research concerning drug education and zero tolerance policies, few have examined their combined youth impact. Comprehensive and nationally recognized mixed method evidence is drawn from 77 school districts and 118 schools in the Drug, Alcohol and Tobacco Education (DATE) evaluation. For the first time it is found that the combined negative impact of traditional prevention and intervention efforts—e.g., Life Skills Training (LST) and zero tolerance policies—are so serious that they extend into the wider conditions of educational achievement. Findings are explained by the social psychological processes of “disintegrative shaming,” where young people are to be shamed into abstinence and experiencing or witnessing school removal rather than help when needed. With more research needed the negative effects of traditional prevention and intervention— particularly salient among disproportionately affected urban/minority youth—suggest that related efforts be reconsidered together as well as part of mainstream education.